Has anyone tried them? They look identical to the discontinued Leeper Cam Hook... which means they look awesome! But before I tell my friends to buy them, i was wondering if someone has tested them out?

I am pretty sure, from reading some other forums, they are identical to the Leeper cam hooks. I believe TMoses got the plans and go ahead from the man himself. Im going to get myself a set o' wides to play with.

I made them as identical to Leepers as I possibly could. Right down to the "pinched" tip and hard heat treatment. Why mess with perfection. The man knew his stuff when he designed them. I like to think it is a tribute to his genius that no one (including myself) could find no real way to improve it.

I have talked to Ed numerous times. He is a trip to talk to. His approach was highly scientific. We get to talking about metal and an hour goes by.

Mountain Tools has them in stock. I handed them to Larry at the Rockpile Rendezvous.

Thanks for bring them back T Moses! They are absolutely essential Yosemite big wall gear. I got a little flutter in my stomach when i heard leeper was no longer making them. All is right in the (aid climbing) world again.

I can't quite recall the specifics. I think Russ's original design--the ones we broke-- were made out of angle iron, in replication of the old Ring Angle pitons, which were, of course, the finest big hooks ever!

That's when Walt and I suggested just to make big hooks like a large version of the Chouinard hook, only thicker, which is what Russ did next.

Russ's original V-angle hooks were too brittle. I reckon they might have been able to be retempered, but the problem might have been then they would have been less strong, and would probably have bent under load. They weren't thick enough.

Rule of thumb with steel: hard=strong in tensile but possible very brittle, and less strong in bending. Tempering actually weakens the material, but makes it much more tough and able to withstand impact without snapping.